Battleground Colonies: Shadow Company
by atlantiaCAG
Summary: Four years before the Fall, homegrown terrorists threaten the Colonies. Shadow Company is sent to investigate when a deep space research facility goes dark.
1. Chapter 1

Four Years Before The Fall

President Richard Adar, sat in the War Room of the Colonial Government building for the first time. He'd been in there before, but in the two weeks since he'd taken office, it had only been for a tour of the building.

Sat around him were all of his top military officers, representatives from Planetary Defence and many faces he didn't recognise, but new had to be important and in some high position. He had been rushed there in the dead of night, no one had said why he was there, only that something serious had happened.

"So is someone going to tell me what's going on?" Adar asked.

"Mr President, two hours ago there was a coordinated raids on every facility in the Colonies where we keep retired and decommissioned ships," Admiral Negala replied from the other end of the table, he was the only other person directly facing him, showing his importance over everyone else, "As of now we are not sure who carried out these raids, but we do already know what was taken."

"How bad is it?" Adar said, bracing himself for the answer.

"Four Columbia class Battlestars, two Mercury class Battlestars, eleven various Gunstars and nearly twenty support vessels. I have my operatives currently going through security footage to try and see how they managed this. Some of the vehicles were in no condition to fly, let alone jump. We suspect it was an inside job. Each facility must have had inside help in order to get the ships ready to be taken." Negala added.

"What about the security in these, facilities? Surely they're well manned?" Adar asked. He was completely shocked at how something like this could even happen.

"They are well manned, Mr President," General Madison Keen said, "But not as well manned as any of our active bases. These ships were unfueled and unarmed, nothing like this has ever happened before."

"It would seem that may have been an oversight." the President said sharply.

"There is something else, Mr President," Negala interrupted, "Shortly before several of our deep space facilities went dark."

"Do I even want to know what these facilities do?" Adar asked. He had the sinking feeling things were about to get much worse.

"All of them are scientific in nature. Most of them are looking into interstellar activities, discovery." Dr Sophia Tennant said speaking up, "Two of them however, are looking into, other, things. One of them researching things like fuels for our vehicles on world and off world. Trying to make them safer for the environment, things like that. The other researching weapons, chemicals," she paused for a moment, "Viruses."

"Why wasn't I informed of this before?" Adar said raising his voice, he was starting to get angry.

"You would have been sir. We were scheduled to meet later this week sir," Tennant replied, "Your predecessor knew all about us."

"Do we have a plan of what to do?" Adar asked.

"We already have people at each facility and base beginning investigations," Negala said, "We are going to send ships out to each of our deep space bases to investigate."

"The press are going to have a field day with this," the President said rubbing his head, "I need to have my people get ahead of this."

"It has already been taken care of," Stephen Adherne said, he was one of the people the President wasn't sure of what he did, "The heads of all media outlets have been reached out to. None of them will be running the story."

"Can we be sure of that?" Adar asked.

"Yes sir, we can," Stephen replied, "This isn't the first time we've had to ask something like this of them."

Adar sat quietly for a moment, trying to digest everything he had just been told. He felt utterly out of his depth, something he wasn't used to.

"So tell me the plan going forward." he said.

"Our operatives will remain at each of the bases until they have found every piece of evidence and everyone who may have been involved. We will investigate underground gangs and crime families to see if any of them may be behind it. Admiral Greenway of Shadow Company is already putting our assets to work in various areas. Other than our deep space missions, all Battlegroups have been recalled. We will be deploying them across the systems, ready to intercept whoever this is coming back. Crews are also already being put together to go to our science facilities. All twelve Colonies have been put on high alert, but we are going to keep the general public in the dark until we absolutely have to. We will get to the bottom of this Mr President, as quickly as we possibly can." Negala answered.

"And what do I do in the mean time? I'll assemble the cabinet and the Quorum and tell them immediately." he said, more to himself than anything.

There was a murmur across the room at this.

"Mr President, that cannot happen yet. We do not yet know who we can trust and who we cannot. We will each keep you informed of what we find every step of the way and when it is safe for you to tell them." Negala replied.

Adar looked at him for a moment before he spoke, "Everyone, please give Admiral Negala and I the room."

Everyone turned to look at Negala, as if waiting for him to give them permission to leave, before getting up and filing out of the room.

When the last person had left the room, the President spoke first.

"I'm not sure what to make of you, Admiral. I always thought I would be the most powerful person in the room, it certainly didn't feel like that today."

Negala looked at him for a moment, "With all due respect, I am in no mood to get into a pissing contest with you, now is not the time."

Adar smiled, "Did you speak to the last President like that?"

"I am not here to make you feel inferior, I am also not here to pat your ego. I am your Fleet Admiral, I am here to do a job, to protect the Colonies. While I work for you, I also work for the people, whether they know it or not. I will make decisions without asking you first, if it is time sensitive or if I feel it is something that does not warrant your approval first. Mr President I am not your enemy, we both serve the same people, they are the priority. You need to know that I am not working against you, I will never betray you and I will never do anything that goes against the well being of the Colonies. You are the President, I will give you the respect you deserve, you have a hard job ahead of you and it is not my intention to make your job any harder."

Adar smiled, "You certainly don't pull your punches do you, Admiral? I like that. I hate being surrounded by brown nosers and people who only tell me what they think I want to hear. Do whatever you feel is necessary, just keep me updated please."

Negala smiled back, this was not the reaction he had expected from the President, "Of course."

"Good hunting." the President added.

BATTLESTAR ATLANTIA

Lieutenant Mark "Archangel" Hunter had just landed from leading the CAP. Life was good for the young pilot, he was already a Lt. Senior grade and squadron leader, well on his way to his goal of CAG and Fleet Captain of the Colonial Vipers. They had been recalled from patrol early and no one would say why over the COM. He knew the Admiral had been called away on urgent business during the night and putting two and two together, he knew it couldn't be a coincidence. As he walked into the pilots main briefing room the XO, Colonel Philip Black and a handful of other officers were already there. He immediately noticed they were all Shadow Company.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Colonel." Archangel said as he took a seat.

"Not at all Lieutenant, we knew you were previously engaged." the XO replied with a smile, "Now we are all here, the Admiral will brief us on a new mission."

As he finished speaking the largest video screen at the back of the room fired to life, their commanding officer on the other end.

"Ladies and gentlemen sorry to pull you away from your work, but something serious has happened. During the night there was a coordinated raid on several facilities throughout the Colonies. A number of retired vessels were stolen and taken to whereabouts unknown. The fleet is being recalled to Picon before being sent out to protect the Colonies from any attacks that may come. However, I have a different mission for all of you. At the same time several deep space research facilities went dark. I am sending all of you to Science Research Station Five."

Archangel groaned louder than he intended to when he heard that. Everyone turned to face him.

"Sorry, Admiral." he said sheepishly.

"Other than, Archangel, do any of you know what is on that station?" Negala asked.

No one replied.

"It is a weapons testing facility. Chemical and nuclear varieties. They also store every virus known to the Colonies. When you get back to Picon you will all join the Gunstar Chimera and heading out immediately. Colonel Black will be in command with Major Stella Wright as XO. Lieutenant Hunter will be stepping in as the ships CAG. You and the rest of the crew have been hand picked by me because you are the best at what you do. I hope more than anything that this is just a communications malfunction, but when are we ever that lucky? It will take you two and a half weeks to reach the station, in that time I want you all to study the lay out of the station. I want you to know it as well as you know your ship."

"Sorry to interrupt again, Admiral, but what do you want us to do if we find anyone there who shouldn't be?" Archangel asked.

"Perform a 99%." Negala replied.

No one spoke. That single order told them everything they needed to know, spare only one person, show no mercy to the rest. But that one person would wish they were part of the 99%, they would be tortured for information about who they were working for, until they gave up everything they knew, then it would become 100%.

"The Chimera will be waiting for you when you arrive. Other crew members are already starting to board. I'm sorry to have to ask this of you all, but needs must. See you all shortly." Negala finished.

After the screen went blank, everyone sat in silence for a moment, trying to get their heads around what had just been said.

"When we get under way, there will be data files on everything we know so far for each of you. I want you to all study up. We jump in ten minutes, go and get your gear together. I want everyone to be ready to leave within thirty minutes of the jump." Colonel Black said.

Archangel stood packing by his bunk. Lieutenant Mal 'Whirlwind' Thomas walked in.

"You're leaving the ship again?!" he said as he threw his helmet onto his bunk.

"The fleet is being recalled. I'm being temporarily reassigned to another ship."

"Whoa, I didn't expect that." Mal replied, "Something big must be going down. It's not the Cylons is it?"

Archangel chuckled to himself, "No, it's not the Cylons. I'm sure you'll all be briefed when the old man gets back."

"Oh come on, you can't leave me hanging like that." Mal was starting to get the whiny tone in his voice when he had decided he wasn't going to let something go.

Archangel zipped his bag closed and picked up everything he would need while he was away.

"Tough," he replied with a smile, "You watch yourself out there."

"I will don't worry. You watch your six as well."

The two gave each other a hug before, Archangel turned and walked away. As he walked he was met by, Colonel Black. 

"Lieutenant Hunter, may I walk with you?" he said.

"Of course sir." Archangel replied.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Archangel was beginning to feel more and more awkward by the silence.

"Colonel, was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes, yes, as you know I'll be commanding the Chimera. When we get to the station, not only will the XO be helping plan the incursion, should one be needed, but there will be authority on the ground as well. While you are CAG, we both know what you'll be doing if it comes to it. The old man thought that far ahead too. Lieutenant Colonel Figgins will be in charge of the marines and will lead any mission. Lieutenant's Stark and Cooper will also be joining us, Negala and Admiral Greenway both thought it best to put all our eggs in one basket so to speak."

Archangel smiled at being reunited with three of his closest friends for such an extended period.

"I'm also going to be leaning heavily on you. Much like Negala does with the CAG, unless you need assistance, I'll leave you to your own devices."

The Colonel seemed nervous, even though he was a member of Shadow Company, he wasn't a soldier. Colonel Black made sure everyone was where they needed to be, when they needed to be. He was a paper pusher, but he was very good at what he did. His attention to detail and punctuality had kept, Archangel alive on many occasions.

"Not a problem sir. I will look forward to working with them again." he said trying to hide his smile, despite the impending chaos, things were starting to look up.

The flightdeck was busy. Archangel turned to walk to his Viper.

"Lieutenant are you not coming on the Raptor with the rest of us?" Black asked.

"No sir, no point in someone else having to bring my plane over, just to have to come back again."

"Very well, see you there, Lieutenant." the Colonel replied before they saluted each other.

As Archangel got to his bird, the Chief and other members of the deck gang were moving his Viper MkVII to one of the many launch tubes.

"Everything is ready to go, Lieutenant." the Chief said as she turned to him.

"Thank you, Chief."

"At least you're one of the few who is taking their own bird over, not like the rest of the pilots. So we thank you." the Chief replied with a smile.

"You're all welcome. See you in a few weeks."

Minutes later, Atlantia Viper thirty seven flew out into space. Nearly seventy Battlestar's had already made it back. To the left of his canopy he could see, Picon. In front and all around were large military vessels of varying sizes. Shuttles, Raptors and Vipers, flew between them. He looked down at his DRADIS, at the edge of the screen, 'Gunstar Chimera' appeared, away from all the other contacts.

"Gunstar Chimera, this is Lieutenant Hunter, I am en route to you know, ETA, six minutes."

Moments later he heard the reply in his ear, "Lieutenant Hunter, this is Chimera LSO, we are standing by for your arrival. Please check in again as you begin your final approach."

"Chimera LSO, will do." he replied.

He past by the Battlestar Columbia, Solaria, Victorious, Galactica, Hermes and many many more. He'd never seen so many vessels in the same place before. It would take something huge to defeat this kind of firepower. When he saw the Chimera for the first time, he was impressed. The Vigilance class Gunstar was new off the production line, running in at slightly larger than a Columbia class Battlestar, and packing way more of a punch in the firepower department.

"Lieutenant Hunter you are approaching the landing zone, your speed is 150, call the ball to begin auto landing procedures." The Chimera LSO said in his ear.

Archangel hated auto landings. They made him feel sick to his stomach. He had only puked once in his helmet before the old man had let him land manually.

"Chimera LSO, I'd rather put my bird down manually if that's okay?"

"Lieutenant, there's no need." came they reply.

"Then you'd best let the deck gang know they'll need to get me a mop and something to clean my helmet up with, when I bring back my lunch."

There was a pause for a moment.

"Lieutenant Hunter, you are cleared for manual landing, your speed is 150, call the ball."

Archangel smiled, "My speed is 150, I have the ball."

The Chimera had a single flight deck which ran from one end of the bottom of the hull to the other. As he neared the deck, he couldn't help but smile as he saw how impressive his temporary home looked. He turned his ship 180° and began to land on the deck.

Major Stella Wright stood waiting on the hanger deck. She had been sent from the training facility for Shadow Company recruits on Caprica. She functioned as Admiral Cooper Greenway's XO and knew she was up to the job. She looked stern as she stood with her hands clasped behind her back. Her expression made to look harsher by how tightly her hair was scraped back and tied from her face. She took no nonsense, but was relieved with the crew assigned to her for what was to come. She looked up as she saw the Viper she had been waiting for. Chief Andrew Tyco helped bring the plane to a stop and attached a ladder to the side of it. As the canopy opened, she saw, Archangel climb down the side.

"Lieutenant Hunter." he said holding out his hand for the Chief.

"Chief Tyco." he replied shaking the man's hand.

"Pleased to meet you, Chief, I'll come and find you when I'm settled in." Archangel said with a smile.

The Major had heard a lot about this young Lieutenant Hunter and the heads he turned through his natural gift and the missions he undertook.

"Lieutenant Hunter, my name is Major Wright." she said as he walked towards her.

Archangel stood to attention.

"At ease soldier. It's a pleasure to meet you, I've heard a lot about you from, Admiral Greenway."

"I have lots of good to say about him too."

"If you would follow me, I'll show you to your bunk. I wanted to be the first to meet my CAG, we'll be working together closely over the coming weeks. How do you find life on the Atlantia?" she asked as they began to walk.

"I love it," he replied, "This is what I've been working for my whole adult life."

"You're from Sagitarron originally?"

Archangel paused for a moment, half the time that question was more accusatory than an actual question, "Yes I am, I love it back home."

"Whereabouts are you from?"

"Freedom."

"I'm from Pilgrim's Pass." she replied.

"Holy shit, that's only a few miles away." he replied.

"We'll have to see if we know anyone in common some time."

"I'll look forward to it. Nice to see someone else from back home who made it through the ranks."

"I need you to know, Lieutenant that I run a very tight ship. I expect all my officers to perform 100% of the time."

"Me too. I get the feeling, Coop trained you too." knowing how she answered this would say everything.

"Not many people get to call him, Coop." Wright said.

"No they don't." he said simply.

"But yes, Coop, did indeed train me."

At least he knew she was honest.

"So were you in the field or behind the scenes?" Archangel asked.

"Completely behind the scenes. I don't have what it takes to be in the field. Strictly in the CIC."

They walked in silence for a few minutes, the conversation not going how either of them had intended.

"Here we are, home sweet home." Wright said pressing the controls on a door. It slid open to reveal a two man bunk.

"Cosy." Archangel said walking inside, throwing his bags onto the bed, "Who am I bunking with?"

"You'll have to wait and see. I'll see you this afternoon for a briefing with the Colonel after we jump. CIC will message you a time."

"See you then."

The door automatically closed behind her. There were two bunks either side of the room, with a desk and chair in front of them. At the back of the room a leather sofa and table, the other side, two lockers and what looked like a fridge. A door in the middle of the wall led to a small bathroom.

"I can get used to this." Archangel said to himself.

He turned as the door opened again, standing there his bunk mate.

"Well frak me!" he said with a smile.

"If you insist." Lieutenant Penny "Tripswitch" Cooper replied with a wink.


	2. Chapter 2

TAURON COLONIAL FLEET SALVAGE YARD

Admiral Cooper Greenway stalked down the halls of the massive station. The facility itself was big enough for thousands of people, its crew compliment was only 43, which Cooper hoped would mean he could be in and out of here quickly. Gunnery Sergeant Teller Jinks walked with him, armed to the teeth. The giant of a man was a member of Shadow Company and one of Cooper's heads of security. The officers he'd sent ahead had questioned the crew who remained, since the incident, four other crew members had vanished without a trace. When they reached the end of the long corridor the large double doors slid open to reveal a large control centre. It was mostly filled with banks of monitors and computers. Sitting in the corner were two of the people he'd sent ahead. Captain Sophie James sat with her head resting on the desk in front of her, Ensign Shaan Tenks sat eating a bag of snacks while staring at the video playback on the screen in front. Cooper looked up at Jinks, put his finger to his mouth and winked. Jinks grinned before the two of them quietly walked across the control room. Unnoticed, Cooper nodded to Jinks.

"BANG YOU'RE DEAD!" Jinks boomed.

Tenks jumped out of his chair, his snacks flying everywhere. James jumped awake with a start.

"I'm awake!" she yelled, wiping drool from her chin and cheek.

The pair turned to see the old man and Jinks standing smiling at them.

"You, you are a dick!" Shaan said as he checked his pulse.

"Sorry for falling asleep sir, I have no excuse." Sophie said, still clearly shaken.

"Nothing to apologise for," Cooper replied, "Found anything interesting?"

Sophie straightened her uniform before she replied, "Yes, Admiral, we are positive, these four individuals were definitely involved," the images of three men and a woman appeared on one of the screens as she spoke, "They all went onboard the Battlestar Odyssey before it was taken and they never left. There are cameras at each and every entry point and we've checked all the footage."

"All the footage." Shaan echoed quietly.

"We've sent their images back to HQ to find out who they are and to send people out to speak with their friends and family. Of the 39 remaining crew members, 20 of them were off duty, most of them in bed asleep because of the time, the rest of them were either in the recroom watching a movie together, or, erm," Sophie suddenly became lost for words.

"They were fraking, boss." Shaan finished.

"Indeed, the remaining 19 crew members we have started to question. So far, I'm not convinced anyone we spoke to was involved. We're going to question the rest shortly. If anyone is involved we will find them." Sophie finished.

"Coop, do you want me to speak with them?" Jinks asked.

"No yet. We'll save your brand of 'speaking' to them for if we don't think someone is telling the truth." the Admiral replied.

"Any news from any of the other teams yet?" Shaan asked.

"Nothing helpful," Cooper replied, stroking his beard as he spoke, his mind racing for a useable thought for how to get the ball rolling, "What did all the crew members who left do on the base?"

"They worked on one of the stripping teams. They were supposed to be stripping the engine room." Sophie answered.

"Was there anyone else on their team?" Jinks asked.

"Yes, two others, but they are off the station. They both left for leave a week ago." Sophie replied.

"Have we found out who they are and where they went?" Cooper asked.

"Again, HQ is handling that, we handed it off to them when we found out." Shaan said.

"Jinks, can you get on the horn and speak with HQ, see what they've learned and tell them to keep me up to date, I want a call every hour on the hour, with an update." Cooper ordered.

"Consider it done." Jinks replied before turning to go search for a COM panel.

"I want you two to get a few hours shut eye." Cooper continued.

"Oh thank the gods." Shaan said utterly relieved at this.

"Thank you sir, but we have a job to do." Sophie countered.

"What?!" Shaan exclaimed, "We've been at this for 37 hours straight."

"Don't worry, Captain, there are people on their way to take over until you've had some rest. Time to do this in shifts, we have to keep sharp, a lot of important eyes are watching us, the Colonies could be in the balance."

"Thank you!" Shaan said patting the Admiral on the shoulder before walking off.

"You'll have to excuse him," Sophie said, "He is good at what he does."

"I know he is, Captain, or he wouldn't be here. One thing to remember as you climb the ladder, when people do their jobs well, give them some slack, a happy worker is a better worker. Now go get some shut eye."

PICON FLEET HEADQUARTERS

Fleet Admiral Anton Negala sat behind his large desk in his office. He had not intended to be back here, Atlantia had been his plan, but too many people wanted to see him. He saw this office, three, maybe four times a year. There wasn't much in the way of decoration, a few photographs and personal keepsakes. As he was rarely there, he didn't really see the point. He looked out of the large window at Fleet Headquarters, it was an impressive sight, but it still failed to compare with the peace and spectacle of open space.

He was brought back from his day dream when the door to his office slid open. In walked his friend, Admiral Peter Corman.

"Peter, I didn't know we had a meeting?" Negala said as he stood up to shake his hand.

"We don't, it's more of a heads up." Corman replied as he sank into one of the chairs facing Negala.

"Sounds serious, drink to soften the blow of whatever this is?"

Corman nodded his head, "Yes please."

"So what's so serious?" Negala asked as he poured them both a generous glass of Ambrosia.

"I've just had a screaming match with the head of the MoI." Corman answered.

"Why?" Negala asked before taking a sip from his drink. He hated dealing with the MoI. Not knowing about Shadow Company, made them arrogant to their importance.

"They demand to know all the details of what happened. They are pissed that we didn't call them to the meeting with, The President as well. I told them they know all they need to. Some how they found out about the deep space stations. Director Fenton offered to send people to them to see what's going on. I told him that we're handling the situation and we'd be in touch if we needed their help."

Negala rubbed his temples and let out a long deep breath. Director Fenton was a pain in his ass. He had been tempted to send someone to deal with him, but that would be an abuse of his power, but it was tempting.

"I'm going to have to speak to him aren't I?"

"Well he won't to listen to me. He said, he refused to listen to the lackey."

Negala could feel his blood pressure rising, "You are the third highest ranking officer in the Colonial Fleet, you have been awarded every medal we have to offer, you commanded the Battlestar Triton for thirty years after becoming the youngest Commander in history. Refuses to listen to the lackey?! He's not fit to kiss your boots." he snarled.

"I do like it when you blow smoke up my arse." Corman replied with a chuckle, in an attempt to break the tension.

Negala cracked a smile.

"Now there's something I haven't seen in a long time. Well now I have you all riled up, Fenton is outside, he refuses to leave until he has spoken to you."

Negala, without saying a word, stood up and unclipped his belt and holster. He opened his largest desk drawer before placing the sidearm inside and then locking it and throwing the key to Corman. He picked up his glass of Ambrosia and downed it, before straightening his uniform. He reached down and pressed his intercom.

"Margaret, could you please send in, Director Fenton?" he asked politely.

"Of course, Admiral." came the disembodied reply.

Negala winked at Corman, before the door slid open. Director Fenton, was a 57 year old man from Caprica originally, he had been a rising star on the way to becoming the Chief of Police in Caprica City until he had been shot and becoming desk bound. When the MoI had come calling, he didn't hesitate to take the job. With his youth long since past, his hair and once muscular body had gone with them.

"Director Fenton, sit." Negala said as he himself sat back down.

Fenton had felt confident before he walked in the room, but being face to face with the Fleet Admiral, he was suddenly nervous.

"Admiral Corman here tells me that you are demanding answers?" Negala asked calmly.

"I only wish to know what everyone else does." Fenton replied.

"You do know the same as everyone else. We didn't invite you to the meeting the other night, simply because the MoI wasn't necessary. You are not military or one of the President's advisors. If you had been offered a seat at the meeting, I would have had to invite more people than there was room for. Thank you for your offer to send people to the deep space stations, I already have vessels on the way. I know the specs of your ships, ours are both faster and better armed. If anything happens at the Colonies then they will be needed here for defence. But there is something you can do for me," Negala picked up a file and passed it over to, Fenton, "In the file there are several of the large crime families. I would like you to investigate them. Find out what they have been up to over the last few months. Try to find out if there are any links to stolen military vessels."

Fenton quickly looked up from the file, "And if there is?"

"Then report back to me and we will decide what to do next."

Fenton smiled, not being included had pissed him off more than he cared to admit.

"Of course." Fenton said as he began to get up from his chair.

"There is one more thing we need to discuss. From now on you will treat every single person you meet who is in the military and my staff with the gods damn respect they deserve."

"Excuse me?" Fenton asked.

"The way you spoke to, Admiral Corman will not pass with me. When respect has been earned, it does not matter who it is that earned it, whether it be of the lowest rank or the highest, you honour that respect, do you understand me? You can be of help during this crisis, do not make me ask the President to find a new head of the MoI, we don't have time to waste on that."

Fenton looked at, Negala, trying to asses him, was it a bluff? Did he even have that type of power?

"Admiral Corman, please accept my apologies for my behaviour earlier. It's a stressful time and I was not behaving rationally." Renton said, trying to watch, Corman from the corner of his eye.

The Admiral felt awkward at this whole exchange, "Apology accepted, Director Fenton. No hard feelings."

GUNSTAR CHIMERA

Archangel had got to grips with the lay out of his temporary home quite quickly, even though it had been only a couple of hours. Most Gunstars, no matter if they were old or new, seemed to follow the same basic design. Briefing room three, on deck G was easy enough to find. He heard familiar voices inside.

As the door slid open, he saw, Penny, Alisa "Dagger" Stark and Lieutenant Colonel Pete Figgins talking and laughing. He looked for a moment and smiled, it had been years since the four of them had been together.

"Look what the cat dragged in." Figgins said as he noticed, Archangel. He had been one of the main people involved in their training back at the start. He gave them their introductions to many different martial arts, helped to teach them to be weapons. He was a good man, he'd trained a lot of Shadows.

"Long time no see." Archangel replied as he gave his friend a hug, "Stark, it's even better seeing you." he said before he hugged her.

"I hope you three malcontents have carried on with your training, it's never to late to learn new ways to fight." Figgins said.

"We're all better than you old man." Penny said.

"In your dreams," Figgins replied, "So did the old man tell you who we're up against?"

All eyes turned to, Archangel.

"Who me? No, he didn't tell me anything. I don't think anyone knows just yet, but they took a frak load of ships with them. Right now, I just hope this is a communications black out, you know what they store at this base we're going to?" Archangel answered.

His three friends went silent for a moment.

"Yeah, I don't think any of us are looking forward to this." Figgins said.

"We got here a few hours before you guys," Alisa said, "I went to speak to the ship's doc. She seems to think our jocksmocks should be able to keep anything out. We have cures for most things now, as long as they're administered early."

"Personally, I think we should just blow the fraking place out of the sky. People are bad enough, without having access to all that shit." Penny added.

"Now that, I agree with." Figgins said.

"Have you all been told what they want from us if we encounter any hostile?" Archangel asked.

They all looked at him silently, but he knew they already knew.

"He wants a 99%." Archangel finished.

"Now I get why we're all together," Figgins said with a sigh, "All their best killers going to potentially the most dangerous place in the Colonies, filled with potential hostile."

"You really know how to lighten the fraking mood." Penny said slapping him around the back of the head.

"We need to start thinking about this now," Archangel said, "How we're going to handle this? We have to get on the station without being noticed, then we have to clear a twelve deck station that is filled with lots of ways to kill us."

"What are you thinking?" Figgins asked.

"What makes you think I've been thinking about it?"

"First, I've seen the list of missions you've run, second, I know you and third, you brought up this topic." Figgins replied.

Archangel realised both, Penny and Alisa were both staring at him too.

"I think, we go in with just the four of us. We can move quicker that way, two teams, we're less likely to be seen and we don't have to worry about anyone fraking things up and getting in the way. The Chimera has one serious set of optics, they can even see heat signatures at a hell of a distance. We can get a real time feed of where everyone is, so we know when there's only one left. There are too many uncontrollable elements. We know each other, we trust each other, this should be us."

"So say we all." Penny replied.

"What can you tell us about, Colonel Black?" Figgins asked.

"He's a good officer, great for command, he has everyone's respect. Trust me, he's more than up to this."

"But he's not a fighter." Alisa said.

"No, but he's a great tactician. He wants us to come up with our own plan, because we're the ones who do this for a job. He trusts us and I trust him." Archangel said firmly, they all realised he was starting to get defensive.

"No offence was meant, Hunter," Figgins said, "I just like to know who my commanding officer is."

"Admiral Negala put him in charge, just like he put all of us here, he knows what he's doing. Now if you'll excuse me I have things I'll be getting on with."

"Hunter." Penny called after him as he walked away.

"I'll see you guys shortly, I want to speak with all the pilots." he replied before walking away.

"What the frak is wrong with you?" Penny asked angrily.

Figgins sighed, "I didn't mean that how it must have sounded."

"Good, because you sounded like a dick." Penny answered before walking out of the room herself.

"Everyone's got so gods damn touchy." Figgins said to himself.

"You know what, Hunter's like with the people he cares about, loyal to a fault." Alisa said.

"What's gotten into, Cooper?" Figgins asked.

Alisa sat quietly for a moment, "Hunter."

GUNSTAR MAGELLAN

The Magellan was an old ship. A survivor of the Cylon war, it had seen a lot in its many years of service. They flew towards the former ski resort world of, Djerba. The once popular resort, before the war would have been bustling with people at all times of the year, now it was deserted, except for the occasional pirates or criminals hiding there. The Admiralty had sent ships on patrol to all the planets like this, all the scientific bases, all the Delta mining bases, just to be sure.

Major Sherman Lucas walked onto his ships CIC. He'd been the commanding officer there for over a year now.

"Report." he said as he took his position at the command console.

Captain Tyler Chambers stood facing him.

"Nothing as yet, Major. No signs of any ships on DRADIS, complete radio silence." Chambers replied.

"Another wild goose chase it would seem." Lucas said.

"Raptor's three and five are about to launch to go see the surface. Alert Vipers are in the tubes just in case they're needed."

"Good. Let's get this over with. I'm itching to join the others at Picon."

As the Gunstar Magellan took a high orbit over, Djerba, two Raptors dropped out from the bottom of the ship. Both birds turned towards the planet.

Ensign Trip "Flint" Kent flew his Raptor towards the planet, with his wingman by his side. The upper atmosphere of the planet was harsh and threw the small birds around as the winds smashed into them. Djerba being a completely icy world, made it perfect for skiing, but it was very cold and often had violent shifts in weather. As they approached the surface, they turned and flew in opposite directions, running DRADIS sweeps. They had to get as close to the surface as possible, so if there was someone there laying in wait, in this weather, they would have less chance of being detected. 

"Anything?" Kent asked.

Ensign Maria "Chainsaw" Reid sat in the ECO chair looking at the DRADIS monitor in front of her.

"Nothing yet, all is quiet." Reid replied sounding utterly bored.

Major Lucas stood at the command console biting his thumb nails. The CIC was completely silent.

"Major I'm reading something odd on DRADIS." Specialist Cameron Banks said from his station at the side of the CIC.

"Report?" Lucas replied as he walked over to him.

"For a moment sir, for a very brief moment it was as though a shadow came across the screen."

"That will probably just be a glitch." the Major replied sounding irritated.

"No sir look," Banks said pointing at the DRADIS, "It's there ag... HOLY SHIT, DRADIS contact!"

"What have we got?" the Major asked.

"Unknown contact, no scratch that, TWO unknown contacts!" Banks said frantically.

"Set condition one throughout the ship, launch our Vipers!" Lucas said.

As the Gunstar Magellan's large banks of heavy cannons came to life, in the distance, the two unknown contacts got closer. They looked like a pair of Raptors, but bastardised, they had two large missile emplacements on each wing, two huge cannons under each wing, the calibre of bullet large enough to tear through armour plating. In unison, forty missiles launched from each ship. The Magellan's cannons, although activated, weren't ready to form a flak barrier in time. One after another the missiles made contact with the hull, tearing it apart and causing massive destruction one blast after the other. The pair of unknown contacts both jumped away.

GUNSTAR CHIMERA

Archangel looked through the files of the pilots assigned to him for the mission. Some of them he knew, most he didn't. As they had been assigned to him by, Admiral Negala, at least he knew they were up to the task ahead. He'd briefed his squadrons on what he expected from them, now they just had to wait to get where they were going. He came back to reality when he heard footsteps enter the pilot's main briefing room.

"Bad time?" Figgins asked sitting down opposite him.

"No, just looking at my roster." Archangel replied before finishing a cup of cold coffee.

"Listen, I got the feeling that I really pissed you off back there and it wasn't my intention."

"I know. Colonel Black and Admiral Negala have been there for me, they've helped guide me at times when I needed it most. You don't know who he is, but trust that I do."

"Okay." Figgins said simply.

Archangel looked at his old friend.

"Spit it out," Archangel said, "Whatever it is you have to say, say it."

Figgins looked at him and tapped his finger on the table for a moment.

"Lieutenant Penny "Tripswitch" Cooper, she really has delivered on what was expected of her and beyond. She really is one hell of a blunt instrument. Then there's you. I've heard about some of the shit you've done, some of the whet work you've done, man you are seriously impressive. I'm glad you work well with, Stark and Cooper, but do you really think it's a good idea fraking her?"

Archangel let out a little laugh, "Whatever is or isn't going on between, Penny and I, are none of your gods damn business," Archangel stood up and picked up the files, "The first time, you did it by accident, I know that, this time," he clicked his back teeth in between words, "You knew what you were doing."

"Hunter!" Figgins exclaimed.

Archangel ignored him, "Lieutenant Hunter, halt, that is an order.!"

Archangel stopped, "Are you fraking kidding me?"

"I don't want you compromised when we go into battle, it's simply that. The lives of billions of people are on the line and I don't want you sloppy because you can't keep your pants on."

Archangel turned around, he knew he had to keep his anger in check, he clenched his fists so hard his knuckles were white. He unclenched his fists when he saw, Figgins looking at them.

"You don't know me, you may have done once, but you don't any more. When I am on a mission, I am 100% focused, 100% of the time. Do not question my dedication to my job. What, Penny and I get up to is none of your gods damn business, do you hear me?" Archangel asked angrily.

"I'm just..." Figgins started to say.

"Yes or fraking no."

Figgins looked at him, nervous about what the young pilot might do next.

"Yes or no?"

"Yes."

"I don't give a shit how much you outrank me, you speak to me like this again, you question my ability to do my job, I will shatter your jaw. I looked up to you during training because of the soldier you are and because of the skills you gave me, but don't think for one minute that my training ended just because you taught me everything you know. There have been many more teachers and none of them ever spoke to me the way you just did. Admiral Negala trusts me, Admiral Greenway trusts me and right now, most importantly, Colonel Black trusts me, so do me a gods damn favour, unless we're talking about the mission or doing something relating to work, stay out of my way." Archangel hadn't felt fury like this in a long time. He never thought of all people, Figgins would question him like this.

Figgins was nervous, he knew from mission reports how volatile, Hunter could be. He flinched as the younger man turned and marched out of the room.

MINISTRY OF INTELLIGENCE

Director Kieran Fenton sat behind his desk in his office at the MoI, he tapped his pen on the desk with one hand, in the other, a large glass of whiskey. The meeting with, Admiral Negala had shaken him, he had no one to blame but himself, he shouldn't have reacted the way he did. But they were now involved, that was all he wanted in the first place. He would prove himself to Negala, show that he wasn't the omni-shambles they already thought he was. He looked up as the door to his office opened, in walked, Agent Galit Malka.

"Good afternoon, Agent Malka." Fenton said.

"Afternoon sir. Any answers?" she asked.

"There is a terrorist situation. All I know is what we already knew." he replied taking a sip from the glass in his hand.

"So sweet FA." she replied. Agent Malka was an expert at infiltration. No one would believe this beautiful blonde young woman was an operative for the MoI and capable of the levels of violence she could inflict. She had a knack of being able to get to the truth, no matter how deep it was hidden.

"I've been thinking of which crime family to infiltrate, Admiral Negala seems to think some of them might be involved."

"Makes sense." Malka replied.

"I've decided to send you to speak to the, Tolathik's."

Malka looked at him as though he'd lost his mind.

"Excuse me sir, but you want to send me to the one crime family that will definitely not be involved?"

"You have good relations with them if I remember correctly?"

"Erm, yeah, that's because they're not even really a crime family. Yes they steal, but only for their community and genuinely protect their own people, the only thing you need to fear from them is if you mean theirs harm."

"If they know anything, they'll tell you?"

"For a price."

Fenton took a sip from his drink, "Offer them whatever is a fair price, I'll get whatever it is approved."

"Should I act on any sensitive intel?" she asked.

"Not without speaking with me first. Let's do this by the numbers."

"Aye aye." she replied sarcastically with a fake salute.

GUNSTAR CHIMERA

Lt. Colonel Figgins walked with purpose through the corridors of the, Chimera. As he reached the CIC, the marines stepped aside to allow him entry. The dimly lit room housed twenty five people, all busy doing their jobs. He walked straight over to the command console.

"Colonel, is everything alright?" Colonel Black asked.

"I don't know sir. The three of us need to speak." Figgins replied looking over at the XO.

"About?" she replied.

"Lieutenant's Hunter and Cooper." he replied coldly.


End file.
